A Support for Sweet Peas
How to support sweet peas with recycled garden material
An English friend used to support her sweet peas with what she called pea brush: long branches and brittle, little dead trees that snap off easily at the base. Shorter sticks were inserted into the ground around the peas when they were planted, and then progressively taller brush was added as the peas grew. The idea appeals to me because it really fits in a country garden, and the price was right. When the vines reach the top, almost all of the wood is obscured, and it looks like sweet peas are bubbling out of the beds.
Cutting brush for next year's sweet peas is usually the last garden chore of the season for me, quite often done when there are a few inches of snow on the ground. If wood is cut in the spring, leaves usually sprout, which then have to stripped off. Tedious. Also, if I have the brush on hand when the peas are ready to climb, I have no excuse for procrastinating on that chore.
